According to Steven Blank a business startup, or any new venture startup is essentially a proto-type. Thus the startup process essentially becomes a learning process to refine that business proto-type into a scalable, replicable finished 'product'.
At the end of this course learners will be able to:
-complete a business model summarizing assumptions about what value they will offer to whom, and how they will make
money.
- systematically test and validate these assumptions within the constraints of their available resources, and
- use these validated assumptions to generate financial projections that are based on actual resources and efforts expended.
The days of the 40 page business plan have certainly passed, but the role of planning in the business creation process is one of extreme importance. In this course we will explore the important components that you need to explore in detail prior to business creation. Action without planning is a recipe for disaster and we will make sure you have a rock solid foundation for future actions.
The planning here is focused on learning. It is unrealistic for anyone to document in detail all of the actions they should take to make a new venture or activity successful when they (and often no one else) has any experience with the new venture and the conditions which it is likely to face. Thus the business plan based largely on assumptions and aggregate, non-applicable data is replaced with the business model which organizes the key assumptions determining what value the business will offer to whom, and how it will make money. The course will guide learners through the process of systematically testing and validating these assumptions, and obtaining specific, applicable data. It will then show learners how to use these validated assumptions to generate pro-forma financial statements directly tied to actions and resources based on this business model.

From the lesson

CREATING THE VALUE THAT WILL CREATE A CUSTOMER

The ultimate goal of any business, in fact the only goal is to create a customer. First and foremost in creating a customer is to create value. This lesson the nature of the value you have identified for your business and how it is expressed in a value proposition.
After successfully completing this module, you will be able to do the following.
1. Dissect the problem you are trying to address in the market place into three categories: jobs or tasks the prospective customer is trying to achieve; the gains or benefits they seek in through those jobs or tasks; and the pains they are trying to relieve through those jobs or tasks, or the pains they endure in trying to perform those jobs or tasks.
2. Be able to compose a value proposition statement identifying what you believe to be the critical jobs, gains, or pains prospective customers will be willing to pay for.
3. Be able to test and validate that the jobs, gains, and/or pains you have identified are in fact the one most important to prospective customers, and that they are willing to pay for them.
4. Be able to make a compelling argument for why a prospective customer should in fact be your customer through your composition of this validated value proposition statement.